The human mind seems to be programmed to think that things did not happen unless one can personally recall it happening. Historians must fight an uphill battle with the general population to convince them that the terrors and tragedies that haunt modern life are often but repetitions of historical events that have already destroyed lineages, families, and communities. These are calamities that, if they happened today, would have graced the pages of tabloids, clogged up Facebook feeds, and inspired a million differently colored ribbons and GoFundMe campaigns.

We think that we’re the generation who has had it the hardest, the most dangerous, the most terrifying—not so. Here are ten modern disasters you probably remember and their older, often deadlier, counterparts.

10 The 2004 Indian Ocean Tsunami And The 365 Alexandria Tsunami

Most of us remember the tragic 2004 Indian Ocean earthquake and tsunami, the giant waves that hit highly populated areas that fronted onto the Indian Ocean, killing up to 280,000 people in their path. It killed the old and the young and the curious, too, who didn’t know that when the ocean recedes rapidly and exposes the sea floor, it is a good idea to run.

The massive earthquake event of AD 365, centered as it was on the Mediterranean island of Crete, must have truly seemed like the wrath of the gods. The island was immediately reshaped by the two tremors, the second of which has been estimated to have been a magnitude of about 8.0 or above. Every town on Crete was destroyed, and countless were killed.

This earthquake sent a huge wave hurtling toward Alexandria in Egypt, killing 50,000 people in the city and surrounding areas, along with communities in West Cyprus, Libya, and Sicily. The fertile farmland was flooded with salt water, and the buildings of Alexandria’s Royal Quarter began to slowly be overtaken by the sea. The ruins of the former heart of the city are now fully and permanently underwater.^[1]

The earthquakes and resulting tsunami permanently reshaped coastlines and islands in the Mediterranean and caused not only death but a grim economic burden on the civilizations of the time. The devastation was simply enormous, as Greco-Roman author Libanius wrote:

Earth [ . . . ] Like a horse shaking off his rider, she has already destroyed many cities—many in Palestine, all of them in Libya. The greatest cities in Sicily lie in ruins, as do those of the Hellenes, except one [Athens]; beautiful Nicea has been felled and our own, the all beauteous one [Antioch] has been shaken and cannot trust in the future.

9 The 1967 Silver Bridge Disaster And The 1807 Eitaibashi Tragedy

While you may not immediately know the name of the Silver Bridge, it was a suspension bridge that passed between West Virginia and Ohio at the West Virginian town of Point Pleasant. Point Pleasant was made famous by the legend of Mothman, a giant winged creature which many believed came to warn the township of the impending collapse of the Silver Bridge.

In December 1967, as commuters working in Ohio were driving home to Point Pleasant and West Virginians were going to Ohio for some Christmas shopping, a link of the suspension chain broke, and the bridge collapsed. The collapse was sudden, pitching vehicles into the water and killing 46 people. It was a terrible tragedy that shook the small community and also entered the public psyche due to its connection with the Mothman legend.

In 1807, the Eitaibashi Bridge, which spans the Sumida River in Tokyo, was already over a century old. It was a wooden bridge that connected an area of temples with the city of Tokyo. There was confusion and dispute over who was responsible for the maintenance and upkeep of the bridge, and as a result, it was not properly cared for. Each side was looked after by a different community.

In 1807, excited residents of the Fukugawa side rushed to a festival that was being held on the Edo side. The weight of the throng caused the old bridge to collapse, depositing 1,400 people into the river, where they drowned.

To compound the tragedy, more and more eager festivalgoers pushed from the back of the crowd, unable to see what had happened. A stream of people fell in the river until an official with a sword physically prevented the crowd from pushing more unfortunate souls to their deaths.^[2]

8 The 1906 San Francisco Earthquake And The 1556 Shaanxi Earthquake

When Westerners think “big, scary, city-destroying earthquake,” the 1906 San Francisco Earthquake possibly springs to mind. There are still people alive who remember their relatives talking about it, and there are a lot of accessible photos on the Internet that show the incredible damage to buildings in the San Francisco area. At least 700 people died, fires raged, and the magnitude of the earthquake has been estimated more recently at 7.9 on the newer moment magnitude scale.

Make no mistake, the earthquake was devastating, tragic, and history-changing. But in the business of sheer destruction, it was eclipsed by the 1556 Shaanxi earthquake.

Early in the morning in the provinces of Shanxi and Shaanxi, China, an estimated magnitude-8 earthquake struck. The outcome was catastrophic, and more than 800,000 deaths were attributed to the tremor and resulting floods and fires. Sixty percent of the populations of these provinces are believed to have been killed. Whole families, towns, and communities were wiped out, along with mountains and river courses. Huge crevices opened in the ground, and landslides decimated villages.^[3] As a result of the devastation, many of the survivors rebuilt with wood and bamboo instead of stone, making their villages and communities safer for future earthquakes.

The Shaanxi earthquake is the deadliest ever recorded, and yet it sparks much less interest than the San Francisco quake, despite the fact that many hundreds of thousands more people died. This may not have been the case had there been photography in the 1500s. Hopefully, lifesaving lessons have been learned from this disaster, and an earthquake will never cause destruction on this scale again.

7 The 1917 Halifax Explosion And The 1626 Wanggongchang Explosion

If you ever go to the beautiful city of Halifax in Nova Scotia, do yourself a favor and go on a harbor cruise. There, you will get an informative tour of the harbor, which explores what happened in the 1917 explosion that flattened much of Halifax in the actual spot where the tragic events began.

On December 6, 1917, two ships partook in a tragic “trying to get around you” dance in the harbor that resulted in a collision. One of the ships, the Mont-Blanc, was carrying munitions for use on the World War I battlefront. When the ships collided, the Mont-Blanc initially burned, and thousands watched as the thick smoke filled the air. It was an interesting distraction from an ordinary day.

Then the ship blew up, killing 2,000 people and injuring and blinding 9,000, including those who had stopped their daily activity to watch. The explosion was so big it caused a tsunami that added to the wide-scale destruction. Houses even lost windows in the town of Truro, 100 kilometers (60 mi) away.

In 1626, the Wanggongchang Armory in Beijing was packed full of weapons, including gunpowder. It was secured behind thick walls and seemed virtually indestructible. Then, oddly, a plume of smoke was noticeable above the armory.

Then came a bang that was felt 150 kilometers (90 mi) away and vaporized everything in a 2-kilometer (1.2 mi) radius. About half of Beijing was destroyed by what eyewitnesses say was a mushroom cloud of death. Body parts and building materials rained down on survivors in a pink mist.

The cause of the explosion has been theorized to have been everything from a tornado to an earthquake to an intergalactic nuclear warhead. The strange mushroom cloud and the severity of the blast (equated to the nuclear bomb dropped on Hiroshima) have inspired many a conspiracy theorist.^[4] Bodies were found stripped of clothing, three survivors were claimed to have flown up to 100 kilometers (60 mi) through the air unharmed, and one amazingly lucky person survived the blast at the actual factory.

6 The 1981 Hyatt Regency Walkway Collapse And The AD 27 Amphitheater Collapse

While not everyone may know about the Hyatt Regency walkway collapse, anyone who’s studied engineering or sat in on engineering lectures because they’re a nerd would absolutely know about it. There have been numerous television shows and much media coverage of the tragedy, which has led to the collapse being remembered well and remaining in the popular psyche.

The atrium of the Hyatt Regency in Kansas City, Missouri, had three tiers of suspended walkway around the inside on the second, third, and fourth floors. On July 17, 1981, a tea dance was in full swing, and people were dancing on the floor of the atrium as well as on the suspended walkways. Without warning, the fourth-floor walkway crashed onto the second-floor walkway, which crashed to the ground, killing 114 people. It is the deadliest structural disaster in the United States to date.

But the AD 27 collapse of a wooden amphitheater in Fidenae, Italy, was far beyond anything that any modern average Joe could comprehend. The amphitheater was, by all reports, cheaply built in a rush. When the wooden structure collapsed, 20,000 people died, and more were maimed and injured.

Modern medicine and infrastructure would struggle to cope with such a disaster. One wonders how Rome, only 8 kilometers (5 mi) away, coped with a tragedy of this scale.^[5]

5 The 2016 Ghost Ship Fire And The 1942 Cocoanut Grove Fire

In 2016, the world was rocked by the news of the tragic fire in the Ghost Ship collective. There is a special poignancy awarded to tragedies that happen in places that are meant to be fun and give relief from the stressors of everyday living.

The Ghost Ship was a bohemian artists’ residence and performance space that had been created inside an old warehouse in Oakland, California. Filled with flammables such as art supplies and electrical cords, the lower floor had rented mobile accommodations, and the upper floor had a space that was used for concerts and dance parties. It was at such a dance party on December 2, 2016, that a fire broke out in the poorly ventilated and fire safety–noncompliant building. Thirty-six people were killed and two injured in the dark, confusing, and illegal structure as the floors collapsed in on each other.

As tragic as the Ghost Ship Collective fire was, the sheer enormity of the death toll of the 1942 Cocoanut Grove nightclub fire is horrifying.

In the midst of the war-torn early 1940s, on November 28, 1942, to be exact, anyone who was anyone at all in Boston was at the Cocoanut Grove. Featuring two stories—a first floor of dining and dancing and a bar in the basement called the Melody Lounge—the Cocoanut Grove was the popular choice for the discerning night owl.

After a worker accidentally set an artificial palm tree on fire in the Melody Lounge, a huge fireball and cloud of toxic gas traveled quickly through the basement area and up the stairs. Panicked guests swamped the revolving exit doors and were crushed against the glass by the weight of those pushing from behind.

Of the estimated 1,000 people in the building that night, 492 people died, and hundreds more were injured. Though the fire department arrived quickly and put out the blaze with appropriate speed, the stacks of dead and injured near the doors made it hard to get in to the wounded and to let air in for those still trapped inside. Interestingly, the survivors of this disaster were the first to receive penicillin as a non-test drug to help fight infections from the burns.^[6]

4 The 1989 Hillsborough Stadium Crush And The 1809 Ponte Das Barcas Disaster

When people say that they have a fear of crowds, they’re often told that their fears are unreasonable and the result of anxiety. A reader of history will note that there are many thousands of reasons why people should be wary of crowds—all of them dead.

On April 15, 1989, the FA Cup semifinal between Liverpool and Nottingham Forest was sold out. Fans were separated due to fears of violence, and the club with the larger number of fans, Liverpool, was for some reason put in the smaller end of the stadium. Not a good idea.

The areas closest to the game were divided into “pens,” into which fans could go in and out through narrow entrances. However, the very narrow entrances and too many fans meant that there were people pressed up against the barriers and climbing fences to escape from the push of spectators trying to get in to see the start of the game. In all, 96 fans died, crushed to death under the weight of each other.

The 1809 Ponte das Barcas incident was a different type of calamity in that it wasn’t a peacetime disaster, but the magnitude of deaths by drowning was far greater and also included thousands of children. The tragedy was also brought on by the weight of a rush of people.

When Napoleon invaded Portugal with his huge army, the citizens of the peaceful Portuguese city of Porto fled onto the Ponte das Barcas Bridge over the river Douro and sank the pontoon structure under their combined weight. An estimated 6,000 people drowned. Whole generations of a city were left bereft.^[7]

3 The 2012 Sinking Of The Costa Concordia And The 1120 Sinking Of The White Ship

The Costa Concordia has become synonymous with terrible captaincy and the horrors of cruise ships in general.

On January 13, 2012, Captain Francesco Schettino began his dive down into the history books as the notorious perpetrator of an unnecessary maritime disaster that killed 32 people onboard. Going way off course, Captain Schettino had ordered the ship too close to Giglio Island, where she hit a rock.

What happened afterward was a completely shambolic misadventure, with the ship drifting around in the water for hours, the captain and crew leaving the vessel with passengers still on it, and said passengers being repeatedly told that things were fine when they absolutely were not fine.

While everyone knows about the Costa Concordia, the modern reader is probably not as familiar with the 1120 sinking of the White Ship in the English Channel.

While 300 people did tragically lose their lives, the reason that the wreck of the White Ship went down in history as such a momentous disaster is that the heir of King Henry I of England drowned on the fateful night of November 25, 1120. Prince William was set to not only inherit what is now modern England but also Normandy. He boarded what was very much a party boat with a half-brother and half-sister, Richard and Matilda. Everyone, crew included, was very possibly completely drunk, and the ship hit a rock and capsized.

Despite the calm sea, few could swim at that time, and the sole survivor was a butcher with the rather awesome name of Berald.

The king was overcome with grief at the loss of his legitimate heir, William, and two much-loved bastards. The sinking of the White Ship has now become somewhat of a medieval murder mystery to suspicious-minded historians.^[8]

2 The 1980 Eruption Of Mount St. Helens And The 1815 Eruption Of Mount Tambora

The 1980 eruption of Mount St. Helens wasn’t long ago, and millions of people can remember the event clearly. You can even watch it on YouTube. On May 18, 1980, a geologist, David Johnston, was stationed to monitor the growing bulge on the north flank of the volcano, which had officials worried. An earthquake triggered an enormous landslide, which triggered the eruption, shooting ash, water, and rock debris 18,000 meters (60,000 ft) into the air.

Fifty-seven people died from the blast, and the shape and landscape of the region changed forever. David Johnston radioed in some data and was then obliterated, wiped out by the enormous blast of the volcano. Everything within 600 square kilometers (230 mi²) around the volcano was destroyed by the blast, and a larger area experienced damage and inconvenience from ash, smoke, and mudflows from the volcano.

However, the 1815 eruption of Mount Tambora in Indonesia was beyond devastating.

Gunung Tambora exploded on April 10 after several warning tremors on April 5. The blast, pyroclastic flow, and resulting tsunamis caused a mega-catastrophic event that killed 10,000 people and destroyed over 35,000 homes. The resulting starvation and disease killed a further 80,000 Indonesians. The ash cloud from the volcano blocked the Sun and caused global temperatures to drop an average of 3 degrees Celsius (5.4 °F), and 1816 became known as the Year Without a Summer.^[9]

1 The 2013–2016 West African Ebola Epidemic And The 1330s–1350s Black Plague

There was a time not long ago in which the word “Ebola” was on everybody’s lips. Ebola seemed uncontainable and incurable. It reached the US, and anyone traveling from Africa was met with suspicion and fear. It was meant to be the end of the world. Clearly it wasn’t. You can tell because you’re reading this list.

In Guinea, Liberia, and Sierra Leone, however, more than 28,000 people caught Ebola, and 11,000 died from the disease, which left whole communities devastated and authorities afraid to bury the dead.

Considering the fear and horror that this outbreak caused among those in countries that were not affected, one can only imagine the level of devastation wrought by the European Black Plague, which affected more than just Europe. The scope of such a disaster was immense.

The Black Plague killed at least 75 million people, and it killed them horribly. The afflicted were covered with pustules, boils, black gunk, suffering from intense pain, chills, and vomiting, and suddenly, they were dead. People would wake up fine and then die in the course of a day.

The disease was spread by rodents and fleas and was airborne as well. The disease also killed poultry, cattle, goats, and sheep. There was nowhere to run. There was nowhere to hide. You died or you didn’t.^[10]

Mostly, you did.

Christy Heather is an author and professional writer from Gippsland in Victoria, Australia. You can read her sentimental writing here and buy her first novel here. Christy is a practicing criminal lawyer and lifelong nerd.

Famous landmarks and other locations around the world draw millions of tourists every year. Even now after lockdown, many of these places can still be toured virtually, cementing their overwhelming popularity.

Every so often, however, a landmark also becomes infamous as the location where someone was spotted or encountered for the very last time before they seemingly disappeared into thin air.

10 Truly Bizarre And Chilling Cases Of Mass Disappearances

10 George Penca Jr.
Last Seen: Upper Yosemite Falls Trail

On a beautiful June day in 2011, 30-year-old George Penca Jr. went hiking with around 20 members of his 80-strong church group. They decided to hike the Upper Yosemite Falls trail. But when they trekked back down, George was no longer with the group.

Assuming that he’d hiked back to the Yosemite Valley floor, his friends only reported George missing at 9:00 PM when it became apparent that he was nowhere to be found. At the time of his disappearance, George was dressed casually in sweatpants, a T-shirt, and running shoes. He was carrying a bag containing minimal food and water.

A full-scale search and rescue operation got underway first thing the next morning. Approximately 105 people, several helicopters, and six search and rescue dogs scoured the area for about a week without finding any clues or trace of Penca.^[1]

In 2020, there is still no information as to what may have happened to Penca. His remains, clothing, and bag have never been located.

9 Carla Valpeoz
Last Seen: Machu Picchu

In December 2018, 35-year-old Carla Valpeoz, who is legally blind, traveled from her home in Detroit to Peru to attend a wedding. While there, she tried to tour Machu Picchu. But she was denied entry due to her low vision.

A tour group offered to help her explore the site. Carla and members of the group stayed together the whole day and then went dancing at a club. They returned to the Pariwana Hostel, where they were all staying, at around 4:00 AM on December 12.

Later, Carla texted a new friend from the tour group that she was going to explore the city that morning. Then she disappeared.

According to her brother, Carlos Valpeoz Jr., a female member of the tour group said that she had awakened around 9:30 AM and noticed that Carla and all her belongings were gone. Around this time, security officers and a receptionist had seen Carla getting into a taxi.

The taxi driver was located, and he told police that he had dropped Carla off at a Cusco bus terminal as she wanted to further explore the city. The last information that Carla’s family and friends received is that a man working at the entrance to Machu Picchu saw Carla there and she looked well.^[2]

Shortly after Carla’s disappearance, her father and brother started traveling Peru looking for her. To date, no evidence about Carla’s fate has been found.

In 2019, police investigating her disappearance expressed doubt that Carla ever made it to Machu Picchu on December 12, 2018, despite the park employee claiming that he saw her on that day.

It is believed that the case is still open. However, there is some speculation that she was victimized by criminals but has now been found and quietly returned to her parents.

8 Tinashe Chitambo
Last Seen: Victoria Falls Rain Forest

In March 2012, 25-year-old Tinashe Chitambo visited Victoria Falls with his sister. The duo decided to have lunch at Shearwater Restaurant. Afterward, Tinashe told his sister that he was going back to the falls for another tour.

Shortly after Tinashe left, a tourist approached a security ranger and said that he had spotted a man loitering around the falls. A team was sent out to investigate but didn’t find the man, who was later suspected to have been Tinashe.^[3]

He never returned to the restaurant where his sister was waiting for him. A police spokesperson explained that they couldn’t eliminate explanations such as suicide and Tinashe’s “[possession] by evil spirits.”

The suicide ruling has yet to be confirmed as Tinashe’s body was never found.

7 Gavin Cusi Octaviano
Last Seen: Golden Gate Bridge

On November 21, 2018, 22-year-old Gavin Octaviano traveled to San Francisco to spend Thanksgiving Day with his family and celebrate his birthday. On November 23, Gavin took a family member’s car and drove to the Golden Gate Bridge. He parked the vehicle in the northern parking lot at 5:20 PM.^[4]

Just over four hours later, a motorist almost hit Gavin, who was walking near the Golden Gate Bridge tunnel. According to the driver, Gavin seemed to be under the influence.

Gavin was never seen again.

On November 28, after seeing Gavin’s photograph on a missing person’s poster, the motorist contacted the young man’s family to tell them about the encounter. Devastated family members spent several days searching on and around the bridge to find clues as to what may have happened to Gavin. He is still missing in 2020.

6 Mujuet Bales
Last Seen: Central Park

In April 1994, Joseph Bales took his two-month-old baby girl, Mujuet, to Central Park and promptly fell asleep on a park bench for a few minutes while the baby lay beside him. His wife and other daughter, four-year-old Priscilla, were exploring the west side of the park.

When Joseph awoke, Mujuet was gone. Her carrier stood around 305 meters (1,000 ft) away from the bench. For some reason, Joseph and his wife, Helena, who were French-Canadian tourists, didn’t report Mujuet’s disappearance for 20 hours. Until then, they returned to their Manhattan hotel and waited. Later, the couple told police that they had delayed for so long because neither of them spoke English.^[5]

As the police investigated the suspicious story, they learned that the couple had crossed into the US from Canada with only one child, Priscilla. When confronted with this information, Joseph and Helena decided to come clean.

Ten days earlier, Mujuet had been found dead in her crib in Canada. Due to earlier allegations of child abuse about a foster child at their home, Joseph and Helena wanted to avoid any further allegations of abuse. So they threw the baby’s body in a nearby woods in Quebec and traveled to the US to pretend that the child had disappeared in Central Park.

Mujuet’s body was recovered, but the cause of death was unclear according to newspaper accounts at the time.

Top 10 Extremely Unsettling Disappearances

5 Tylee Ryan And J.J. Vallow
Last Seen: Yellowstone National Park (Ryan) And Kennedy Elementary School (Vallow)

In what has turned out to be an incredibly confusing and tragic missing persons case, siblings Tylee Ryan and J.J. Vallow disappeared without a trace in September 2019.^[6]

Seventeen-year-old Tylee was seen for the last time with her family at Yellowstone National Park on September 8, 2019. Seven-year-old J.J. was last seen at Kennedy Elementary School on September 23, 2019. Despite all this, their mother, Lori Vallow, got married on November 5, 2019, to Chad Daybell (whose late wife had died in October 2019).

When Idaho police tried to conduct a welfare check on J.J. on November 26, Lori told them that J.J. was with other family members in Arizona. That story unraveled fast as the police investigated. By the time officers returned on November 27, Lori’s home in Idaho had been abandoned. Days later, Lori and Chad quietly slipped away to Hawaii where they lived in a rental townhome.

The investigations into the disappearances of Tylee and J.J. were made public on December 20, 2019. Lori missed a court-ordered deadline to produce the children on January 30, 2020. On February 10, it was reported that police had found Tylee’s cell phone with Lori’s belongings in Hawaii.

On February 20, Lori Vallow was arrested by Kauai police and ultimately charged with multiple counts related to these disappearances. Shortly before her arrest, it became known that Lori and her husband were convinced that Tylee and J.J. were possessed and had become zombies as a result.

On June 9, 2020, police discovered the remains of Tylee and J.J. in the backyard of Chad Daybell’s home in Salem, Idaho. J.J.’s body was wrapped in plastic and duct tape. Tylee’s body had been dismembered and set on fire.

Daybell is also facing charges in connection with the deaths of these two children.

4 Karl-Erivan Haub
Last Seen: Klein Matterhorn, Swiss Alps

In April 2018, German billionaire Karl-Erivan Haub went skiing on the Klein Matterhorn in the Swiss Alps. An experienced skier, Haub was by himself at the time of his disappearance. He was training for an upcoming race. When he didn’t return from the glacier-shrouded peak, he was reported missing.^[7]

A full-scale search operation was launched but to no avail. Over two years later, what happened to Haub is still unclear as no trace of him has ever been found.

The last sighting of the billionaire was at the mountain station of the gondola lift. There is no active search at this point. According to the general consensus, Haub probably fell into a crevasse. So it is unlikely that his body will be recovered.

The full truth behind his disappearance remains to be discovered.

3 Floyd Roberts III
Last Seen: The Grand Canyon

On June 17, 2016, Floyd Roberts III, 52, set off to the western part of the Grand Canyon with his friend Ned Bryant and Ned’s daughter Madeleine. After splitting from Ned and his daughter and using a different route to climb a hill, Floyd became one of the many missing hikers at the Grand Canyon.

Floyd and Ned had been friends since childhood and had gone on regular hikes together for over 20 years. The hiking party had planned a nine-day trip, which started with them camping by a river.

When they reached the fateful hill on the first day, Ned and Madeleine opted to climb over it. But Floyd decided to go around it. They arranged to meet at a point on the other side of the hill.^[8]

As Ned and Madeleine waited for Floyd, they became anxious when he didn’t turn up. They camped for the night and then walked to an area where they had cell phone reception. There, they reported Floyd missing on June 18 at 3:00 PM. The initial search lasted for six days but was scaled back on June 24.

Searchers found no clues or evidence that Floyd had somehow fallen, and there was no trace of him or his backpack. The case went cold very quickly but remains open.

2 Ben Trommels
Last Seen: Niagara Falls, Ontario

Twenty-four-year-old Ben Trommels lived alone in an apartment in the north end of Niagara Falls, Ontario, in 2016. The young man was troubled and had been struggling with mental health issues for at least three years at that point.

On February 11, 2016, Ben went grocery shopping with his mother. While they were talking, Ben said something that would haunt his mother for years to come.

As they were walking in the store, Ben said, “I’m tired of it all.” This occurred after conversations in which Ben had declared that he wanted to jump down the falls and never be found as he felt that he was a burden to his mother.^[9]

In the early hours of February 12, 2016, Ben Trommels left his Niagara Falls apartment and vanished into the night. His mother, Monique Smith, only realized four days later that her son was missing. Volunteers searched the falls, but no sign of Ben was found.

More than four years later, Monique is none the wiser when it comes to Ben’s fate. However, she believes that he made good on his promise to take his own life.

1 Prabhdeep Srawn
Last Seen: Kosciuszko National Park

Bushwalker Prabhdeep “Prabh” Srawn, 25, rented a van in Sydney on May 13, 2013, and signed an agreement that obligated him to return the vehicle in Melbourne two days later. Security footage showed him entering a convenience store near Jindabyne later that day.

Prabh drove to and parked near the Charlotte Pass Ski Resort staff quarters on May 14, 2013. He was seen heading toward the Main Range Trail carrying some food and a cell phone.^[10]

The day started out bright and sunny. However, around noon, the temperature dropped significantly and snow started falling hard and fast. Other bushwalkers reported that the trail was difficult to see in spots because of the deep snow.

The first sign that Prabh was likely in trouble on the trail came when a caretaker at the resort noticed that the rental van was still parked in the same spot on May 18, 2013. A search and rescue operation lasted about two weeks. Then Prabh’s family launched extensive private searches in a desperate attempt to find him.

Employees and a skier in the Little Austria area reported that they heard what sounded like a human voice calling out on May 22, 2013. A helicopter search was commenced in the area, but nothing was found.

Even after the snow melted, there was still no sign of Prabh. After spending over $200,000 on private searches, Prabh’s family was forced to call off their efforts in October 2013.

Prabh was declared dead in June 2015 despite no trace of him having ever been found. His family still hopes for a miracle.

10 Baffling Disappearances That Remain Unsolved